homework

Wondering how you manage homework in kindergarten? We were giving Math and ELA homework on a weekly basis. Using My Math which has a homework page after each lesson. Now wondering if we should change our routine. Your thoughts?

I do not assign homework. At all. Many parents cheered. A couple were disappointed.

This is what I told parents at Curriculum Night:

Quote:

We are not assigning formal homework at all this year. Your kids’ day is already very long and jam packed. The last thing they—or you—need is a stack of worksheets. This is my 11th year in this classroom. One thing I’ve learned is that the kids who NEED homework rarely do it and those who don’t need it, do it reliably. That’s a big waste of time and resources all around. We are instead advocating you spend time reading with your kiddo. Look for a specific letter or popcorn word in books. Bake cookies, let them help measure the flour (yes they will spill!), go for a walk and count mailboxes or red doors or white cars, whatever! Play board games. Uno, Candy Land, Shoots n Ladders are all childhood staples for a reason. They teach taking turns, 1:1 correspondence, winning and losing gracefully. Please don’t let your kiddo win every game either. I’m not saying crush them, but they need to learn to lose.

I truly believe homework is not developmentally appropriate for Kinders. But it also saves several reams of paper each week, all the time spent differentiating each packet, then checking the packets. So much waste. I am thrilled to be done with homework!

I don't believe in homework for kinders, either. Or for most of elementary aged kids for that matter. Like Zia said, the ones who really need it usually don't do it anyway. Kids need time to just play and be kids, especially if they are at school for 7-8 hours a day. I was THRILLED last year when my 5th grader's teachers decided to do away with homework.

My homework is fairly simple. All students have a homework journal. Parents are responsible for sectioning the paper and dating the sections. Student have 1 math or ela assignment each night M-Th. This is how this week's homework looks.

Monday: Draw pictures of a hat, box and bug. Then draw a picture of a word that rhymes with hat, box, and bug. Extension: Label each picture drawn. Tuesday: Practice counting and writing numbers. Count as high as you can Parents: Record the highest number counted in the journal. Write numbers 0-10Wednesday: Draw a picture of an apple and color it red. Then draw something that is the same color as an apple. Extension: Draw something else that is different from the first group. Thursday:Go on a letter hunt in your house to find objects that begin with the letters. Ee, Ff, Gg, Hh, and Ii. Write the word of the object that you find for each letter. Extension: Draw a picture of each object found. Friday: Turn in your homework journal! Have a wonderful weekend!

Before implementing the homework journals, I sent home sent home a packet that was turned in each Friday. Now I save so much time and paper by not having to copy packets each week.

Our kinder homework is reading and then the student draws their favorite part in their lil composition journal. Next trimester, it will be reading their guided reading books and just right book bag books. We are blessed to have a huge literacy library courtesey of our 50 yrs and counting educator on staff. Kinder teachers send home a class set of a book. This is nice when trying to figure out what the drawing is. At least once a week I let them sit at circle and share their drawings with a partner. I flip through once a week and give a sticker for weekly completion and a smilely face stamp for incomplete work.

I myself have added to our grade level homework. I will, after the 1st trimester add one comprehension question for each night homework goes home and sightword flash cards.

Monday: Imagine you are the main character. Would the story change at all?
Tuesday: What season do you think it might be in your story?
Wednesday: Have you ever felt like the main character? When and why?...

Parents write thier students answers in their journal above the students illustration.

Pretty simple. I have about 8 sets of weekly questions already prepped and ready to go and I rotate through them.

I also don't think kindergarten students need much homework. The occasional extension of a lesson (like "Find this letter in three places at home.") is plenty.

They're too young for it to be about time management skills, and their natural curiosity is still intact - they're learning all the time! (and about things that are important to them, which is way more natural and a better example of the "lifetime learning" that we really want to foster)

I give monthly homework sheet once a month, that I found online. Save paper, ink, and time. The page of homework is nothing complicated, and parents and children choose two to three activities a week to do.